She was supposed to go to Sicily, but she was stranded in Bratislava due to a bomb threat. Passengers reveal what happened inside the airport building – National – News

More than two dozen passengers experienced a dramatic start and end to their summer vacation on Wednesday. Bratislava MR Štefánika Airport faced a bomb threat, which was reported anonymously inside the terminal. Children, adults and elderly people waited behind the cordon in 30-degree heat for the verdict of the pyrotechnicians. The police ended the evacuation after nearly three hours, but the bomb check did not confirm the bomb. The Bratislava 2nd District Police is handling the case.

After an anonymous report of an explosive device, not even a foot was allowed into the departure hall. At around 8:45 a.m., holidaymakers began to evacuate and the terminal and surrounding parking lots were cordoned off by police. “All departing passengers, including employees, had to leave the airport building.” The evacuation lasted about three hours, until 12 noon. Airport spokeswoman Veronika Demovičová told Pravda that seven flights departing from Bratislava and six arriving flights were affected.

Although flights from abroad were not cancelled, passengers coming from Sardinia or Egypt had to remain on board their aircraft and wait for instructions while police searched the airport terminal. This concerned, for example, Smartwings flights arriving from Porto Alam and Porto Matero, Ryanair flights from Burgas and Alghero, and Mavi Gok flights from Antalya. People travelling from Slovakia to Italy or the Netherlands for vacation endured fireworks displays in the wider area of ​​the airport. In the morning, for example, there were no Corendon Airlines flights to Antalya, Turkey.

Traffic from the Ivanská cesta junction to the airport was blocked for about 1,000 people while the area was searched. Rows of cars, huge suitcases lined the sidewalks, passengers brought to the airport by evacuated holidaymakers and families. “Since a plane can accommodate about 190 passengers, and six arriving and seven departing passengers were affected, we can count about 2,500 arriving and departing passengers,” Demovikova explained.

While some people sat on the side of the road despite the scorching sun, some passengers took shelter from the 30-degree heat in air-conditioned buses or in the shade of nearby trees in Bratislava’s Dopravné podnik park. Bottles of mineral water were distributed to people at the airport, and water tanks and mobile toilets were installed. Emergency medical services were also provided on site if needed. However, according to the spokesman, no injured or dehydrated people were registered. According to the bus driver we spoke to, the atmosphere after the evacuation was non-confrontational and calm.

Demovikova said that according to European legislation, if a flight is delayed for more than five hours, the passenger automatically has the right to decide not to take the flight. The airline then refunds him the ticket price or can transfer him to another flight and reach his destination by another route,” she explained.

They left Kysúc at four in the morning

The young couple, who were interviewed by Pravda, learned about the explosion only after they arrived at the airport. “They pushed us onto the grass and kept moving us,” Matej, a holidaymaker from Kysúc, told Pravda, adding that they had been waiting for the airport to reopen for about three hours. He and his girlfriend Martina travelled from Kadka to Bratislava Airport. They had to get up at 4am to catch their flight to Turkey.

“By this time, we should already be in Turkey, or at least on a plane,” Martina told us. Both appreciated that the airport took care of their drinking habits and provided air-conditioned buses for families with young children so they wouldn’t be standing in the sun. “It was survivable. It was a long time, but, thank God, we don’t have kids here, so it’s cool,” Kysučanka commented, adding that she probably won’t forget such a start to her vacation.

The editors also managed to contact a passenger who was trapped at the airport and wished to remain anonymous. She was already in the airport hall before nine o’clock waiting for a flight to Sicily in the Mediterranean. “The inside part was taken to the airport area. We were waiting there and they started giving us water. Those who needed to go to the toilet or to the cold room were taken by bus to the airport fire brigade on the ground. Since the bomb threat had lasted for more than two hours at that time, they took us all there.” She described the dramatic moment of vacation. She had never experienced anything like this before. He thought that the airport staff handled it well and helped everyone at a critical moment.

Although the bomb threat cut her vacation short by a few hours, she didn’t make a fuss about it. The important thing is that no one was hurt. “I don’t think it’s a big tragedy,” she said of the three-hour wait. According to her, the people did not panic and were very cooperative. “I didn’t feel any negative emotions at all,” she added.

First they let the employees go

Whether there are explosive booby traps inside Bratislava Airport has not yet been definitively confirmed. Employees were the first to return to the building at around 12:30. The first tourists followed shortly before noon as the police cordon was dismantled.

“In response to the morning announcement of an explosive device at Bratislava MR Štefánika Airport, the police took action aimed at protecting the lives and health of citizens,” explained Jana Šimunková, a spokeswoman for the Bratislava regional police. She added that investigators from the Bratislava III Regional Police Department have opened a criminal prosecution for the crime of disseminating alarm information.